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Spin this one

2/17/2009

The primary phase will be done Saturday, April 4, when convoys will be deployed from Carroll to Arcadia. Pictures of a suspected arms dealer will be shown in Arcadia, and soldiers will go door to door asking if residents have seen the suspect. ... The drill will culminate in the apprehension of the suspected arms dealer.
Guardsmen to conduct urban training at Arcadia in April
By BUTCH HEMAN
Staff Writer
The Carroll National Guard unit will train on urban military operations by holding a four-day exercise at Arcadia.
The purpose of the April 2-5 drill will be to gather intelligence, then search for and apprehend a suspected weapons dealer, according to Sgt. Mike Kots, readiness NCO for Alpha Company.
Citizens, law enforcement, media and other supporters will participate.
Troops will spend Thursday, April 2, staging at a forward operations base at Carroll. The next day company leaders will conduct reconnaissance and begin patrolling the streets of Arcadia to identify possible locations of the weapons dealer.
The primary phase will be done Saturday, April 4, when convoys will be deployed from Carroll to Arcadia. Pictures of the arms dealer will be shown in Arcadia, and soldiers will go door to door asking if residents have seen the suspect.
Soldiers will knock only at households that have agreed to participate in the drill, Kots noted.
"Once credible intelligence has been gathered," said Kots, "portions of the town will be road-blocked and more in-depth searches of homes and vehicles will be conducted in accordance with the residents' wishes.
"One of the techniques we use in today's political environment is cordon and knock," Kots explained. "We ask for the head of the household, get permission to search, then have them open doors and cupboards. The homeowner maintains control. We peer over their shoulder, and the soldier uses the homeowner's body language and position to protect him."
During this phase of the operation, troops will interact with residents and media while implementing crowd-control measures and possibly treating and evacuating injured persons.
The unit will use a Blackhawk helicopter for overhead command and control, and to simulate medevacs.
The drill will culminate in the apprehension of the suspected arms dealer.
Alpha Company will conduct a review of the drill on Sunday, April 5.
A meeting to give residents more information and accept volunteers will be held 7 p.m. Monday, March 2, in the Arcadia American Legion hall.
Kots said the exercise will replace Alpha Company's weekend drill for April.
"We have a lot of extended drills this coming year," he added.
In addition to surveillance, searching and apprehension, the exercise will also give the troops valuable experience in stability, support, patrol, traffic control, vehicle searches and other skills needed for deployment in an urban environment.
"This exercise will improve the real-life operational skills of the unit," said Kots. "And it will hopefully improve the public's understanding of military operations."
The pre-drill work with residents is as important at the drill itself.
"It will be important for us to gain the trust and confidence of the residents of Arcadia," said Kots. "We will need to identify individuals that are willing to assist us in training by allowing us to search their homes and vehicles and to participate in role-playing."
"We really want to get as much information out there as possible, because this operation could be pretty intrusive to the people of Arcadia. http://www.carrollspaper.com/m...=&S=1

I cannot think of any way to spin this as harmless or in any way good for those of us who prefer to live in a non police state. Maybe all the BS about BHO taking our guns is not so off track.
Iowa Bay Dog....you got rid of all your gus right....right

Views and opinions expressed herein by Badbullgator do not necessarily represent the policies or position of RTF. RTF and all of it's subsidiaries can not be held liable for the off centered humor and politically incorrect comments of the author.
Corey Burke

Check this again, they are scaling back the operation ...there will be another story in the paper today regarding this. According to Butch Hehman the author of the story, the civilian involvement is completely voluntary, and is not so scary as it sounds. The exercise is relevant in that these kind of searches are common in the middle east.

State Rep. Rod Roberts of Carroll said he received calls, e-mails and questions about the Arcadia exercise but only one from a constituent.

Initial news of the drill "caught me off guard," he said.

"I was like 'What?'" Roberts said. "Then when I read that line about how they'd be using a Blackhawk helicopter, I said 'Please, that doesn't help.'"

Roberts took his concerns to fellow House member Jodi Tymeson, who's a brigadier general and deputy commander of the Iowa Guard.

"I said, 'Jodi, even at face value, I read this and bells go off. Maybe it's perfectly fine, but I've got to think the public relations division with the Guard needs to go back and find out how this needs to be handled in terms of public relations,'" Roberts said. "I also said, 'You've got to have an explanation for this because I think they've dropped the ball ... and it's putting the Guard in a bad light.'"

Arcadia Mayor Oran Kohorst said he'd gotten about a dozen calls from out of state - one caller promised to bring 5,500 "minutemen" from North Dakota to challenge the Guardsmen while a caller from California said he'd bring 50,000 protesters - but heard no opposition to the drill from any resident of Arcadia.

"We support the Guard," he said, noting that Guard officials explained their plans to the Arcadia City Council earlier this month and the council was in full favor.

The Guard did make one modification for Arcadia.

"We didn't want Arcadia to appear we're having fun with terrorists," Kohorst said, "so they came up with this suspected arms dealer thing.

"It started out to be an exercise. We just wanted to help the Guard to be ready if they have to go overseas. But it just kind of blew up. Nothing this serious has ever happened in Arcadia. We have our cat and dog problems and other small-town things, but nothing like this.

"I really feel sorry for the National Guard having to justify their actions."

Tony Vonnahme, who'd been asked to play the suspected arms dealer in the drill, said he didn't commit because he wanted more information. The Guard had planned to hold a town meeting Monday, March 2, to explain the exercise and ask for volunteers.

"To me it was totally innocent," said Vonnahme, who is a real-life gun dealer, owning Shooters Outlet in Arcadia. "But things got ugly real quick. I got calls from North Dakota, Washington, Illinois, Ohio ... It really had me concerned. My guts were torn up. I mean, I had people calling me telling me to evacuate the city. I was thinking 'This isn't even funny. This is wild.'"

Vonnahme said he's glad the Guard decided against practicing in Arcadia.

Check this again, they are scaling back the operation ...there will be another story in the paper today regarding this. According to Butch Hehman the author of the story, the civilian involvement is completely voluntary, and is not so scary as it sounds. The exercise is relevant in that these kind of searches are common in the middle east.

How is that for spin ....it is still friggin spooky IMO.

I agree that they do this in the middle east a lot, BUT we have numerous BASES and training facilities that ARE BUILT SPECIFICALLY for URBAN WARFARE TRAIINING EXACTLY LIKE THIS. Doing this in a town that has NOTHING in common with what is encountered in the middle east is just plain old NOT RIGHT

Views and opinions expressed herein by Badbullgator do not necessarily represent the policies or position of RTF. RTF and all of it's subsidiaries can not be held liable for the off centered humor and politically incorrect comments of the author.
Corey Burke

"I really feel sorry for the National Guard having to justify their actions."

This from the Mayor of the town. Scary how that type sentiment looms over such issues.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1 NKJV)... 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4NKJV)

Imo, This is a beginning of dress rehearsals for when HR 45 (or whatever incarnation it becomes) is passed and household "inspections" begin to ensure the guns are locked up & secured from those under 18.

You train how you intend to fight.

Last edited by BrianW; 02-24-2009 at 09:20 AM.

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Imo, This is a dress rehearsal for when HR 45 (or whatever incarnation it becomes) is passed and household "inspections" begin to ensure the guns are locked up & secured from those under 18.

You train how you intend to fight.

Kind of my thought too

Views and opinions expressed herein by Badbullgator do not necessarily represent the policies or position of RTF. RTF and all of it's subsidiaries can not be held liable for the off centered humor and politically incorrect comments of the author.
Corey Burke

My thoughts as well, and apparently their Sate Rep. agreed that there is no way to put a positive face on it. I have never feared our national guard I believe if came down to it, these are hometown boys who would never turn on their own.
I am not so sure anymore.